


But What's In A Name

by Methoxyethane



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee Shops, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25159654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Methoxyethane/pseuds/Methoxyethane
Summary: Will liked seeing that cute little emo kid every day, but he'd like even more to get his real name.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 10
Kudos: 188





	But What's In A Name

**Author's Note:**

  * For [symphoniamochi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/symphoniamochi/gifts).



He was back again. That cute emo-looking kid of indiscernible age, but who Will figured was probably in college just based on the way he consumed coffee like he was dying for it. 

“Venti -sized hazelnut triple espresso,” He ordered like he usually did, staring less at Will than at the board behind him.

“And the name?” Will prompted. 

The boy looked around the shop, noting that there were approximately zero other customers in line. “Ebony.” He said this time, which made about as much sense as any of the other names he’d given Will over the course of the weeks he’d been working here.

Will’s favorite had been Pazuzu, and the hardest to spell he’d been given was Aleister Crowley. Nothing he’d been given seemed even remotely similar to his real given name, which Will was starting to get more curious about by the day.

“So, what do I have to do to earn your real name?” Will asked a few minutes later when ‘Ebony’s’ coffee order was up. 

“Try being more charming,” Ebony said as he took a sip of his drink. Looked down at his cup disapprovingly. “And make my drink better next time,” he said as he poured what seemed like an ungodly amount of sugar into his coffee, same as he always did.

“I can’t do that though,” Will laughed. “Adding that much sugar is a crime against coffee. I’d lose my job on the spot.”

He earned a tiny flicker of a smile from Ebony. It was the closest he’d gotten to a good mood he’d ever seen the other boy in. For today, Will counted that as a win.

\--

“Wiiilllllll,” Lou Ellen taunted in her most charmingly irritating voice. “Guess who’s baaaaack~?”

The Boy here again - Ebony suited him just as well as any of the other names he’d handed Will in the preceding weeks, so Will had silently started to refer to the other boy as such, just for lack of a better option. 

Will all but shoved Lou Ellen out of the way of the counter when it was time to take Ebony’s order, needing to be the one to take his order himself. It was no fun if he just heard about Ebony second hand, after all. This kid was the highlight of Will’s boring stressful job, after all.

Not that being a doctor wasn’t going to be MORE stressful when he finally got there, but. At least it would be twice as satisfying and half as boring. Ideally.

“Darkness,” He gave for his name this time, which was...

“That’s a little weak, isn’t it?” Will decided for him as he wrote it on the cup anyway. “Compared to Astaroth and Diabolos,  _ Darkness  _ is just kind of… Lame.”

Ebony snatched his ready order from Will’s hand. “Can’t blame me for what my parents named me,” the boy shrugged, taking one sip before adding his required sugar content to the coffee.

“Then what, you’re telling me all this time Darkness has been your real name?”

“Could be. Wouldn’t you feel like an ass for making fun of it  _ then _ ?”

Will laughed, but the next person in line was shoving Ebony aside before he could come up with a witty reply. 

Damn. He’d have to wait for tomorrow.

\--

By now, Will already knew Ebony’s order by heart, and could start making it as soon as he saw the other boy walk into the coffee shop. 

“Hazelnut triple espresso, right?” Will asked before Ebony could even get up to the counter. “And you always want the big one.”

“Yeah,” Ebony agreed tiredly. “The big one. It lasts most of the day if I pour it into a thermos as soon as I leave.”

Will laughed. “You know if you hand me the thermos I could just make the coffee right in it for you and you won’t have to go through the trouble of pouring it out?”

Ebony made a face. “Is that sanitary? Like, I feel like you aren’t allowed to do that.”

Will shrugged. “I might not be, but I doubt my boss would care even if he caught me.”

“Let’s not risk it,” Ebony said. “I’d rather not get you in trouble for something I can easily take care of myself.”

“Awww, why Honey! I didn’t know you cared so much about me!” Will said, and figured this time he could at least be courteous enough to add Ebony’s much needed sugar content himself. 

Ebony blushed an adorable shade of red that really complimented his pale features. Reached out for the completed coffee order, but Will snatched it back out of his hands before he could grab it.

“Ah ah ah!” he tisked. “Store policy says I still need a name to write on this bad boy!”

Ebony rolled his eyes, scoffing out an annoyed, “Dementia. Now can I have my damned espresso?”

Will scribbled the name onto the side of the cup, in handwriting he had been told more than once was completely unintelligible. “One triple espresso for Dementia.”

Ebony, or Dementia as today would have it, took a sip of his coffee. Made a face. “Close, but…” He took off the lid to add more sugar. “Not close enough.”

Will laughed.

\--

“Name?” Will asked cheerfully, the next day when Ebony came in. 

“Raven,” the boy said in between a yawn. 

Will nodded and went to write it down, but something gave him pause. “Wait, Raven?”

Ebony raised an eyebrow at him. “So what? It’s more classy than ‘Darkness,’ isn’t it?”

“Then,” Will bit his lip to suppress the outrageous giggle threatening to burst out of him. “Then tomorrow were you really going to call yourself ‘Way?’ Because that IS worse than Darkness, and you know it.”

Ebony blinked at him, confusion taking over his features. “How did you -”

“Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way? And you really thought,” Will chuckled, “No one would notice?”

Ebony turned a brilliant shade of red at that, stuttering out, “W-who the fuck in the real world knows about ancient Harry Potter fanfiction?! This is your fault for being weird, not mine!”

“No,” Will shook his head, “No I’m pretty sure you brought this on yourself. Why darling, I didn’t know you were a giant nerd! And here I thought you were cute just being emo.”

“I’m not emo and I’m not a nerd!” Ebony snapped back. “I’m… alternative!”

Will laughed so hard everyone in the store turned to stare at them. Ebony turned on his heel and walked out of the store, before Will could even give him his order.

Whoops. “Think you scared him off?” Lou Ellen asked over his shoulder.

“I hope not,” Will said honestly. “He’s the best part of my day.”

\--

Will was already finished with his shift by the time he realized he hadn't seen Ebony yet that day. Fortunately for him he had no time to get disappointed about it - as he was walking out of the cafe Will saw him in all his tiny goth glory, climbing out of the driver’s seat of a car that looked so expensive Will wouldn’t even be able to afford one even after he became a doctor and paid off his many, many student loans.

“Nice car,” Will said, surprising Ebony into stumbling. 

“Um, thanks I guess,” Ebony said shyly, not making eye contact. “My uh… dad bought it for me. My sister has one, too.”

Will whistled, impressed. “My dad got disowned. Grandpa could have afforded something like that, though. If anyone still liked him.”

Ebony snorted a contained laugh. “Guess my family isn’t the only one that’s... complicated.” He straightened out, casting his eyes up and down Will. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you out of your little apron and cap before. Did you just get off work?”

Will nodded, grinning at the mere fact that Ebony had chosen to make conversation with him. “Yeah, I just finished up my shift. I’m on my way to class after this.”

“Oh, yeah? And where do you go to school?” 

“Rutgers,” Will said. “The medical school.”

Ebony’s eyebrows shot up. “No way! I go to Cooper!”

“You’re a med student too?” Will said, excited and intrigued and suddenly way more interested in getting Ebony’s real goddarn name. “I had no idea, that’s amazing!”

Ebony looked shy again, another faint blush coloring his cheeks. “It’s not amazing, really.”

“Yeah it is,” Will laughed. “I tried to get into Cooper but they rejected me. I mean, I still got into a really good school, but. You got into a better one. I’m really impressed.”

“It was - It was mostly Dad’s influence, my grades were just… barely good enough.” He shook off the discomfort to look interested again, asking Will, “Is there any field in specific you’re going to study? Like, you do you wanna be a heart surgeon or a pediatrician, or…”

“I haven’t decided yet, I feel like I wanna study everything at once and decide later. I’m not sure I can afford to DO that, so for now I’m still taking pretty general medical courses that will be useful no matter what I do.” Will shrugged, smiling sunnily. “At least until I decide which field I like best.”

Ebony looked at least kind of impressed, or at least more impressed with Will than he usually was. “So all you know is you wanna be a doctor?”

“Always have,” Will said cheerfully. “What about you? What are you studying?”

Ebony’s look of interest flashed into a brief smirk. “Forensic pathology,” he said easily, like he was waiting to see what Will did with that. “I’m gonna be a coroner.”

Will only took a second to decide how he felt about that. “That. Is kind of awesome. And it really suits you, I think. You seem like you’d be more comfortable examining dead bodies than living ones, anyway,” he said with a laugh.

Ebony didn’t take offence to that, instead giving a little snicker of his own. “You got me pegged there.”

Will licked his lips unconsciously, wishing he had more time to talk to Ebony. “I’ve gotta get going or I’ll miss the beginning of class, but. It was really nice getting a chance to actually talk to you.” He paused, scratching at the back of his head before asking. “Do you think I could, like… get your real name?”

Ebony’s eyebrows shot up like it hadn’t occurred to him for a second that Will didn’t already know it. He composed himself quickly, brushing a lock of his shaggy hair behind his ear to say, “Maybe. If… If I can get your phone number first.”

Butterflies exploded in his stomach, and Will couldn't believe he was so lucky. He had been gearing up to ask for this guy’s number himself, but was trying to play it cool enough not to scare him off. This was his big chance, but at the same time… He had been such a little shit about his name. And Will just couldn’t help himself.

He grinned. “Six,” he said, taking his bike off the rack and hopping on.

Ebony’s eyebrow raised. “...Just six?”

“Six is the first number.” Will said with a lugh. “If you wanna know the rest, you’ll have to keep coming back to see me.”

Ebony’s eyes widened, and he cursed as Will rode off into the street. “S-see if I bother, asshole!”

\--

Will was practically vibrating from excitement when he saw Ebony again the next day. He already had the worst one-liner about chickens all stocked up and ready to embarrass the other boy, and now that he knew it wouldn’t be creepy if flirted with him a little he was more than excited to drop the next digit of his phone number.

Just as Ebony walked up the the counter and Will was about to tell Ebony that if he was a chicken he’d be impeccable, someone shouted something from the back of the store.

“Nico?! Nico is that you?”

Ebony froze up tense as a loaded springtrap, mouth hanging half open.

“NICO!” A green-eyed boy waved, practically jumping up and down. “Nico Di Angelo! It’s me, Percy!”

Ebony - or that is to say, Nico di Angelo - slowly craned his neck around to hiss, “Yes, Percy, you don’t have to shout when you’re standing six feet away from me!”

“Oh, man, I thought that was you!” Percy grinned, slapping Nico on the shoulder. “I haven’t seen you since you stopped coming to program at the youth center, how have you been doing, dude?”

“I -” Nico stuttered, looking around the shop. “I’m great, maybe we can catch up after I get my order? And not when I’m standing in a line full of impatient coffee-less people?”

Percy didn’t even have the courtesy to look embarrassed at himself, just grinning cheerfully and stepping back out of the way again. “I’ll get a table for us!”

Nico turned back to Will, face now bright red with a blush.

“So, um.” Will chuckled. “Nico, was it?”

Nico nodded. 

“I like it,” Will said next. “It suits you.” He said, decided to hold back the part where he thought the name was as cute as the boy it belonged to was. 

Nico nodded again, managing to somehow turn even redder. “Looks like I’ve lost all my leverage,” he said with an awkward little chuckle of his own. 

Will looked around at the other patrons in line, knowing he had to make this quick.

Lou Ellen bumped her shoulder into his, surprising Will as she handed him a venti coffee with the offer, “Hazelnut triple espresso?”

Will grinned at her, reminding himself to thank her profusely when he got the chance. He grabbed his marker, scribbled out a name on the hot side of the paper cup, and handed it over to Nico.

“I think this should cover everything that needs to be said.”

Nico looked at the cup, and Will watched as the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Thanks… Talk to you later, Will Solace.”

“Later then, Nico di Angelo,” Will said back cheerfully as Nico wandered off to join his friend at the table.

And Will watched out of the corner of his eye as he took a sip of his coffee, side of which bared a hastily scrawled, ‘Will Solace, 656-7823.’

Nico texted him as soon as later that night.

\--


End file.
